SKYDIVERS from Warwick University are jumping for joy after being awarded £1,000 to compete nationally.

Five members of Skydive Warwick have been given the bursary from the Giving to Warwick Opportunity Fund.

Qualified skydivers Sam Lee, Tim Gaines, Antonia Nilsson, Greg Lucas and Phil Tzourou – all students – have teamed up to compete in 4-way Formation Skydiving in the UK Skydiving League and at the British Nationals in August.

The team plunge in freefall at speeds reaching 120 mph, performing a series of formations repeatedly within 35 seconds.

The fifth team member films the jump and the footage is then reviewed by the judges to score the performance.

It’s not about looking pretty in the air or looking good when they land; in the same way as a football team wins a match by scoring the most goals, a 4-way team will win a competition if they correctly build the most formations.

Antonia Nilsson (left), who has over 350 jumps under her belt and is a postgraduate student, said: “Training for a UK national event will likely be more challenging – and fun – than all our degrees combined.

“It is a huge financial commitment; we are each contributing £2,000 for training and competition.

However, this is a relatively small budget compared to most teams we’re up against.”

Courses are run on-demand for Warwick students and staff, however the group also offers advice to people in the local community on how they can try skydiving.

* For more information e-mail info@skydivewarwick.co.uk or log on to www.skydivewarwick.co.uk